Local Cable Will Carry All U Of A Games

While the Arizona Wildcats and the Arizona State Sun Devils were battling it out on the basketball court last week, Fox Sports Net and CableVision settled a dispute that will allow local fans to continue watching Wildcats games on television.

A rate disagreement between the two companies blocked a couple of Wildcats games this winter on local channel 35 and threatened to black out a few more.

CableVision Manager Scott Flake said Fox was offering those games as part of an additional events package at an additional cost.

He told Fox no deal because Fox is already the second-most expensive cable channel the local company carries.

"We just felt like if we caved on this deal, then we'd be opening the door for them to charge us additional fees in the future," Flake said.

He said he even got a few calls from customers, encouraging the company to stand its ground.

CableVision did just that, and this week, Fox agreed to air the five U of A games along with its regular lineup at no additional charge.

"This is obviously a great thing for the consumer," said Kyle Eng, director of marketing and communications for Fox Sports Net.

"We are pleased that we have been able to work out an agreement," Flake said, "and that we'll be able to offer those games to our customers."